Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | November 9, 2016 | AIM, the trusted worldwide industry association for the automatic identification industry, providing unbiased information, educational resources and standards to providers and users of these technologies for nearly half a century, announced that This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.&job=2698156&ymlink=62004662&finalurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eamazon%2Ecom">Amazon recently joined the association as a member.

AIM Chief Operating Officer Mary Lou Bosco, in welcoming Amazon, said, "It is our great pleasure, and an honor, to add Amazon to the membership base at AIM. Throughout the past several years we have seen remarkable advancements in both innovation and technology, due in great part to the work being done in the industry by AIM member companies. Having the opportunity to engage a global powerhouse such as Amazon will benefit not only AIM and its members, but end users and consumers alike. We look forward to a strong and successful relationship."

LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. – May 17, 2016 – Eighteen months after its acquisition of Motorola Solutions Enterprise business, Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a global leader in providing solutions and services that give enterprises real-time visibility into their operations, today shares its vision for the company moving forward within a growing industry category, Enterprise Asset Intelligence (EAI). By providing “Visibility that’s Visionary,” Zebra increases businesses’ ability to track critical assets within their operations and know exactly what they are, where they are and their condition so they can make smarter, faster decisions that improve their bottom line.

“The combination of mobile computing, automatic identification and analytics solutions provide organizations with real-time visibility into critical activities and processes," said David Krebs, EVP, Enterprise Mobility and AIDC, VDC Research Group. "Leveraging these capabilities to deliver more personalized experiences and to provide the necessary visibility to ensure that the right information gets to the right person at the right time is separating leaders from laggards.”

For more than 40 years, Zebra has developed the building blocks of today’s Internet of Things (IoT) technology with its global leadership in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) market including sensors, barcodes, RFID and wireless networks. The arrival of the cloud and the ubiquity of wireless networks have made connecting devices and mining their data much easier, and the IoT is bringing us into a new industrial age in which the line between the physical and digital is blurring.

“Zebra makes businesses as smart and connected as the world we live in, providing the products, software and services that let our customers see the bigger picture instantaneously as hardware talks to software that talks to the cloud," said Jeff Schmitz, Chief Marketing Officer, Zebra Technologies. "We are moving into a new era of business in which connectivity and ‘visibility that’s visionary’ help organizations sense what’s happening in their operations, analyze that data to deliver insights and act on those insights to make better business decisions.”

The evolution of the AIDC market to a more strategically oriented EAI focus is being driven by technology trends: IoT, cloud-based data analytics and mobility. Zebra is leading this evolution through its operational framework of “sense, analyze, and act.” Its solutions automatically “sense” information from enterprise assets, such as packages moving through a supply chain, equipment in a factory, workers in a warehouse, and shoppers in a store. Operational data from these assets, including status, location, utilization, or preferences, is then “analyzed” to provide actionable insights. These insights can then be mobilized to the right person at the right time so they can be “acted” upon to drive better, more timely decisions by users anywhere at any time. Today, 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies benefit from this framework using Zebra’s solutions in retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics (T&L), and healthcare.

EAI IN ACTION

·According to the Zebra Technologies Global Shopper Survey, stellar customer service continues to drive retail, with 64 percent of shoppers claiming they are more willing to make purchases from stores that provide better customer service, and 41 percent of shoppers agreeing they have a better experience in stores where sales associates use the latest technology to assist customers.

·MPact, the only indoor locationing platform to unify Wi-Fi and Bluetooth® Smart technology, is one example of how Zebra is enabling the customer experience. This solution provides instant visibility into where customers are in a store, hotel or restaurant, and the ability to automatically take the best action - like send a mobile coupon - to best serve customers at any time during their visit.

·Zebra’s recent Warehouse Vision Study shows more than 40 percent of respondents cited shorter delivery times as a key measure requiring warehouse investment. With the visibility Zebra’s technology brings into manufacturing and T&L processes, the industry is in a better position to deliver on the promise of flawless fulfillment, especially as customer expectations increase regarding improved service and shorter delivery times.

·Mobile computers and printers are essential tools for a productive workforce, no matter the size of the business or the industry. Zebra’s recently launched Asset Visibility Service offers insight into device health, utilization and availability in customer environments resulting in increased productivity and operational efficiency.

“Time is money in the trucking business, and with Zebra’s technology in the hands of our drivers, they can document and transmit pickup and delivery status in seconds, making time for more pickups and deliveries in a day," said Clay Holmes, Chief Information Officer, Cardinal Logistics. "The real-time information makes it easy to give customers the on-demand shipment status they expect. Dispatchers can optimize routes to minimize mileage with real-time visibility into driver location and status, thus driving down fuel costs and vehicle wear-and-tear. And the ability to automate pickup, delivery and regulatory paperwork makes it easy for even the newest drivers to rapidly reach expected productivity levels.”

RAIN is pleased to announce the next RAIN Alliance meeting will be held on 8-10 June at the Embassy Suites Napa Valley by Hilton Hotel (www.embassysuitesnapahotel.com) in Napa Valley, California, USA.

SMARTRAC and Google, two of the co-founders of the RAIN RFID Alliance, will host the meetings. The meetings will be held over a period of 2.5 days including an Open Session featuring a dedicated Internet of Things (IoT) workshop, and several "RAIN and IoT" themed presentations, in addition to our regular Members-only sessions.

The RAIN members only meetings will be on Wednesday 8th June and the morning of 9th June.

Non-membersare welcome to join us for RAIN Alliance Open Meetings on June 9th afternoon including Lunch, and June 10th morning. An exciting agenda is organized for the Open Sessions that includes speakers from SMARTRAC, Google, Levi Strauss & Co, Motorola Mobility, MEPS, Teslonix, and RR Donnelley. A special tour of Levi's store is planned in Napa Valley at the end of June 9th afternoon sessions, featuring real world implementation of RAIN RFID and the link to IoT analytics and metrics.

Registration is currently open with the following steps. Attendees are encouraged to note approaching deadlines for RAIN discounted rates for hotel rooms.

Airport Recommendations: for those flying in, the closest airport to Napa Valley is San Francisco International Airport (SFO). Attendees can consider several transportation modes to / from Napa Valley including renting a car or ride sharing options with others. For those needing travel coordination for ride sharing, please indicate on the pre-registration survey (including your arrival and departure dates/times so we can determine what can be arranged). Contact us if you have any questions.

Agenda for the meetings can be found as follows and will be kept up to date at our website

Enabling RAIN for the IoT - Panel Session - moderated by Shahrokh Shahidzadeh, Senior Principal Technologist at Intel’s IoT Analytics Solution, Intel. Speakers from 9 and 10 June will participate in the panel and interactive discussion with all attendees.